Late game

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Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/8, 1/125 sec, ISO5000
 Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！

Hi! Tonight Koa had a late baseball game (8pm – 9:30pm). The sky was a bit stormy but luckily we didn’t get any rain and the kids got to enjoy their evening contest. As you can see from the photo, the colors in the sky as the sun went down were pretty awesome… the photo was pretty much SOOC (straight out of camera) with a tiny bit of sharpening and clarity applied, but I didn’t touch the vibrance or saturation, and I think the camera was on standard Provia film simulation. At any rate, we enjoyed about 10 minutes of this sky before it got dark. Pretty cool, huh?

Koa’s team lost but Koa had a good game, getting a hit, an RBI, scoring a run, and having three outs at second base… one on a blistering line-drive. The late games are kind of interesting because when we leave, it’s usually almost 10pm and there aren’t a lot of cars left in the parking lot. It’s a completely different feeling compared to the ending of the early games when there are a lot of other people arriving and the parking lot is still quite full. I like the late games! 😄

Have a great evening! おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

A-Z Challenge – U

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U stands for “Upgrading”

We are constantly urged by ads and marketing to upgrade everything we have. For instance, phones, software, cars, gadgets, etc. In photography, we’re presented with new cameras and technology every year. The camera you just bought will be “obsolete” as soon as next year’s model comes out. There’s more and more megapixels, better high ISO sensitivity, faster AF… the list goes on and on!

When I bought my Fujifilm X100T last year, it made me realize that I didn’t have to upgrade my camera gear to improve my photography, or more importantly, get more enjoyment out of my hobby. I became more aware of the concept of “good enough” and the “satisficers” vs “maximizers” and found myself falling into the camp of the satisficers. This camera had less megapixels than my dslr, didn’t have as high a burst mode, and the video quality was worse. But it was definitely good enough, and the advantages of small size, low weight, simpler controls made it a far more enjoyable experience for me. “Good enough” actually brought me more joy than “maximizing”.

So, now I ask myself… why must I upgrade to the latest and greatest? Phones for instance… I find a low to mid-range smartphone good enough for me. I don’t have the urge to upgrade. Also, I use Adobe Lightroom every day, but I decided not to upgrade to the latest “Cloud” version… for me, version 5 was good enough. If I had the CC version, it would probably force me to upgrade my computer to keep up with the more powerful features that are regularly added. I don’t want to get forced into this cycle of upgrading!

It used to be a huge temptation for me to keep upgrading my things. But these days, I find happiness in settling for the “good enough” items, and I do not spend cycles worrying or researching to make sure I am at the cutting edge. For me, it’s a more satisfying way to live, and I can spend my energies elsewhere.

Sunday tasks

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Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO640
 Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ Hello!

Today was a good day – there was a mix of household tasks completed, movie watched, and yummy food eaten. A great combination!

In the kitchen, I repaired a leaky water line that goes to our refrigerator. Our fridge is about 10 years old now, and the plastic tubes that bring water to the filter are getting less pliable, and one of them developed a crack. It has happened once before, and the quick fix is to remove the small part of the tube that has the crack, then connect the two ends together. Happily, couplings are available at the hardware store for about $4, and it is a quick fix. But really, the whole tube should be replaced since I can see more leaks springing up soon. But I’ll spend the $4 for the quick fix for now.

The second task I did today was to put a metal cover on the hole in our counter-top. When we replaced our kitchen faucet, we were left with two extra holes. In one we put a dish soap dispenser, but the other one was just empty. So I ordered a metal cover for it. Can you believe that such a simple non-functional piece of metal cost $10? Craziness. Anyways, that went in without problem and now the sink is complete. Yay.

I mentioned that we watched a movie. It was Cloverfield. I thought it was okay, but I don’t like movies where the ending is left unresolved. And this movie’s ending was left in the air. But the special effects were cool! 😛

Lastly, the good food eaten… One of our friends came over to kick back and watch the movie and that always means yummy food! In the picture above, Koa is working on peeling a shrimp, which was cooked in garlic and olive oil. Those shrimp were yummy!!! And to accompany the food, plenty of beer, wine, and champagne were consumed. And because of that, I am sleepy!

So…. おやすみなさい！ I hope you had a nice weekend… let’s have a great Monday!

– B Barron Fujimoto

A-Z Challenge – T

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T stands for “Time”

Last night I had a dream in which I was explaining how Quartz is used to keep time in watches. I can’t remember how I explained it, but it must have been a very vague explanation since I don’t really understand how Quartz does it. So when I woke up, I did a little research on Quartz watches and found out that Quartz has a special property, where when given an electric charge, will oscillate (vibrate back and forth) 32,768 times per second, and so modern electronics will measure that oscillation and then do a simple calculation, then send out one pulse per second. It’s amazing, isn’t it?

Anyways, I was also thinking about why we measure time in the units we do… I guess it was easy to figure out that we have 365 days per year, but I think it is amazing that we just have to add 1 day every 4 years to keep things in sync. It seems like (and maybe it is that) there would be some fraction of a day, like we’d add a day every four years, but every 100 years, we’d skip that leap day, or add two extra days. Also, how did we decide on 24 hours for a day? Why not 20 hours?

I’m sure these have logical explanations, but I’ll save that for another day. It’s like a little bit of knowledge that I will keep a mystery to myself for a while. 😊 I’ll keep it as something to look forward to!

Bright day

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Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/15 sec, ISO6400
 Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ How’s it going?

Today I spent the first half of the day at the baseball fields watching Koa’s team play back-to-back games in the bright morning light. It’s only April, but the Texas sun is already strong. In fact, I got a nice sunburn on my arms! Koa’s team lost both games, but they had fun and scored a decent amount of runs. Tomorrow, Koa is playing in another one… the All-star game! ⚾️ He was one of the players chosen to represent his team, so that means 3 games in two days. And on top of that, Monday night, he has another regular game! so 4 games in 3 days. It’s crazy! Normally there are not so many games in one stretch, but there were a couple earlier games that got rained out, so these are make-up games. I think Koa is going to be one tired player!

Today’s photo is of my latest Instax prints and the cool set of markers I use to take notes on them. I love the Instax prints so much. They have a wonderful charm about them… Even my mediocre photos look nice when printed on instant film! ☺️

I am about two-thirds of the way through Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City, and I am enjoying it a lot! It’s interesting and fun… a nice light YA read, and great for a change of pace. I recommend it. In fact, I am going to read more right now before I sleep.

おやすみなさい and take care!

– B Barron Fujimoto